Overcomed Anguish
by orangepeeler
Summary: LH Haley James has always been the strong girl in life. However, once her father dies, she changes her world around to avoid any reminders of him. She realizes with every closed door, and new one is opened.
1. Chapter 1 And So It Begins

A/N: Hey! This is my first Laley fanfic, but definitely not my first fanfiction.. I won't make this message too long, and I know that this story may seem a bit "deep", but I'm addressing a serious topic that I don't think can be taken too lightly. It will becoming more fun as it goes along, since this chapter is a pure explaining chapter. I'm extremely nervous to what you guys think about this story, especially since I'm trying a different writing style. So, please, don't completely bash it! Hope you like it!  


* * *

  
  
CHAPTER ONE:  
  
Their arms were entwined as they silently walked back to her house. The moonlight shone onto both of their faces, bringing out the tears in the shorter figure's eyes. Her laughter followed, showing that those tears weren't brought by sorrow, like most of them had been recently. They were simply there because she was with him; the only person in her life who could really bring a smile to her face lately.   
  
"Thanks Luke," Haley smiled softly, while hugging her best friend of many years. She lingered there for an extra second, breathing in his warmth and love.   
  
"Anytime," he replied, while rubbing her back in return. As the two parted, he turned to face her, causing Haley's attention to be diverted towards him. "I really missed this Hales. We need more 'us' time." Haley nodded, enjoying the seriousness of their conversation, but feeling a bit uncomfortable at the same time. A sarcastic remark was in order.   
  
Her mouth opened, brain working on overdrive to think of a comment, before an object in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She sighed as she saw the dark figure in her window move towards the entrance of the house.   
  
"I gotta go," she mouthed, before giving him a friendly pat on the back. "Thanks again for tonight."  
  
"What are best friends for..." Lucas glanced towards where Haley's eyes were facing, and noticed John walking onto the porch of her house. In some form of protection, he pulled her into a hug, not caring that this man was watching every movement they made. "Call me if he gets bad, alright?" Haley sighed and muttered a 'mhmmm' to his whispered advice, before releasing Lucas and walking towards her house.   


* * *

  
  
Haley threw her large purse onto the sofa, before plumping herself down on it, in the same motion. She knew what was coming; there was no point to hide.   
  
"Haley, what did we talk about the other night?" A voice came out, as it's owner walked into the family room where Haley was sitting. She rolled her eyes, as she predicted the way the rest of their conversation would be. Words they both didn't mean would be screamed, doors would be slammed and an uncomfortable silence would follow for a couple days to come, only to be repeated once again the next week.  
  
"That's different. I was studying with Nathan that night. It was for school!" She repeated the same excuse she had yelled at him a few moons ago, but this time in a calmer manner. She rubbed her temples as she waited for his remark back, feeling a headache coming on.   
  
"Is that what you kids call it now? Studying? Well Haley, I'm not as old as you think," he bellowed, standing over her to feel superior. "I know what you were really doing when you were over at Nick's house."  
  
"Nathan, John. His name is Nathan," she spat, starting to feel her temper rising. "And me and him are over; we have been for months now. We broke it off when....." Her voice trailed off, and she looked down at her feet, trying to forget the moment.   
  
"Well what were you doing tonight then?" He banged his foot down on the hardwood floor, changing the topic quickly and causing Haley to jump. She stood up from her spot, and moved away from him. She knew he'd never become violent with her, but at the moment, the more distance between the two, the safer she felt."Tell me Haley. What were you doing that was so important that you couldn't call home?"   
  
Haley groaned once more in frustration. "I was with Lucas. At his house. With his mom there...So don't worry. No sexual intercourse was involved."   
  
"Don't use that tone with me!" Her eyes grew larger, as he took a step closer to her.  
  
"Well, don't try to lecture me like you're my father. You aren't and you never will be!" Her words seemed to hurt him at first, as his hazel-green eyes reflected images of rejection. However, as quickly as those feelings came, they vanished into thin air as the verbal fight continued.   
  
"Right now, you live under my roof. I provide food for this family, and I've done nothing but be nice to you," he attacked in response, stressing his I's and my's. "You, on the other hand, have done nothing but disrespected me, my rules and yourself." His index finger pointed out, forcefully, nudging her in the arm.   
  
"Well maybe if you stopped making so many frickin rules," she grumbled, her usual lower tone reaching a high squeak as each word rolled off her tongue.   
  
"These rules are made to help you succeed in life," he tried to side with her. Haley shook her head and snorted, while turning on her heal to head up the stairs to her room. She refused to give in to his antics. He was just doing this to feel like the 'man' of the family; he didn't even know why he was yelling at her anymore. Actually, come to think of it, neither did she. Their fights seemed to have a hidden meaning, as each of their words got louder and louder.   
  
"Haley James, I don't like that attitude. You should grateful that I'm here to set some ground rules. Before I arrived, your parents let you do whatever your precious heart wanted." He rolled his hands up into fists, trying to control his anger. With each argument, he found it was becoming more and more impossible to deal with her sudden attitude flares. "You weren't disciplined right from the start, and whether you allow me to play the role of your father-figure or not, I'm here. He's not. He's gone. Get used to it."   
  
Haley froze in her spot on the fifth stair, inhaling deeply. "You did not just say that." John gave no response, and made no action to take back his harsh words. "Fine. I'm going upstairs. Is that okay? Or will that just be another huge disappointment, huh, dad?" She spat out her last couple words, before pounding up the remaining stairs, with each footstep forcing more weight onto the carpet.   
  
As she continued to run, she heard the distant words sounding familiar to "You're grounded!" coming from downstairs, but she decided to ignore it, not caring. It felt like she was locked up in this household more and more lately. She didn't need words to make it clear that she was caged in a world that she couldn't escape from.   


* * *

  
  
Lucas rested his feet up on his desk, and placed down his book as he waiting, patiently, by the white coil phone, predicting that his shoulder would be in need soon for a certain best friend to lean on. He honestly did miss hanging out with her, and this was one of the rare times they had actually been able to hang out alone, without other people tagging along.   
  
He bit his lip hesitantly, looking back onto the phone. Things with Haley and John had gotten worse lately, and he was beginning to fear how it was affecting her mental state. He loved her like a sister, and would do anything to make all aspect of sadness or pain in her life go away. However, when the family is the problem, it's harder to simply remove the anguish.   
  
It had been nearly a year since Haley's closest family member lost his life. A simple heart attack was all that it took to turn her life upside down, but it was the long hours waiting for him to awake through his comatose stage that had ached Lucas in every way possible. Besides his sense of loss, and knowing inside that Mr. James had no chance of waking up, he saw how much it was affecting Haley and had no real way of comforting her. For once, he couldn't take away her pain.   
  
After one long month of sleepless days, and empty stomachs, Mrs. James decided it was best to pull the plug. It was announced that if Haley's dad ever did wake up, he'd be unable to work, unable to talk and would remain crippled. Haley was devastated, to say the least and never was the same. Wanting a new start for herself, she changed her life around drastically to spend more and more time away from her home. It became just a constant reminder of what was missing in her life. Instead, she worked hard at the Café, with her school work and saw Lucas more and more. Karen quickly became her new mom, as her own became too caught up in her late husband's death. Haley had spent so much time ignoring her past, that it eventually caught up to her. Her mom was getting remarried.   
  
  
The instant she found out the news, she refused to have anything to do with it. She and her step-father had never been the best of friends. He was trying to take the spot of her dad and naturally Haley didn't find him up to his mother's standards. What Haley hated in him, was what her mother cherished, and she knew she couldn't make her mother fall out of love with him.   
  
Once again, Lucas was stuck with having to deal with the fact that he, her protector, could not do a single thing to stop her pain. All he could do was put a band-aid over the wound, hoping it would eventually heal, but he knew it was only covering up a problem that needed much more aid than a simple bandage.   
  
He sighed once more, before looking at the time. It was well past 2 AM, meaning he had dropped Haley off at her house a couple hours ago. She was either fine, and found a way around the fact that she had stayed out past her newly made curfew again, or she didn't want his help. Maybe, she was even getting past this whole thing. He seemed to be believing it more and more as the days passed. 'I'll talk to her tomorrow about it', Lucas thought to himself as he turned off the light and allowed the lack of light to envelop him into a deep slumber.   


* * *

  
  
Realizing her room wasn't where she wanted to be, Haley secretly travelled to the attic upstairs, making sure not to be heard. That was the last thing she needed; the beast waking up. Climbing up the stairs found in the far end off the hallway, she made her way up to the place where she had been spending the majority of her time lately. As weird as it sounded, she felt closer to her dad there, as if his spirit rested on the creaky, dusty floors. Although he had never spent a minute of his life in the small room, because of his dust allergies, everything that represented him, materialistically-wise at least, remained scattered around in medium sized boxes.   
  
Haley smiled, sniffing away her tears when she spotted the 'photo box'. After his death, her mom refused to keep any of his stuff lying around the house. It was almost as if she wanted to erase the memory, but Haley couldn't complain. It was painful to realize that a family member was missing, never mind having to see it in the form of a picture every day.   
  
"Daddy," she inhaled, before letting more tears out. "Why can't you be here now?" She looked back down to the picture in her hand, rubbing off the dust that had accumulated with her thumb, causing her to sneeze. The photo was solely a father-daughter moment; the day of her first ballet recital. Mr. James stood proudly, one arm around his pride and joy, with a gleam on his face. In Haley's eyes, that was how she wanted to remember him forever.   
  
Gritting her teeth, she remembered the bitterness that had occurred since his picture perfect image was crushed. As he lay motionless in the hospital, he was no longer the best dad. Instead he was the father that would never awake; the one leaving her. She sobbed once more, before collapsing onto her needs. She wasn't sure whether she hated him or loved him, and the bitter-sweet relationship she had with him after his death was confusing her to no return.   
  
"Daddy...come back," she cried out once more, before lying down on the hard wood floor, and pulling a blanket nearby around her. If this was the closest she could be to him, she'd have to take it.   
  
TBC... 

__

A/N: Alright I wanted to post this here, just so I wouldn't spoil anything in this chapter. I wanted to make it clear that Haley's relationship with her step-father (John) will not become an physically abusive one. I have nothing against stories like that, but since I know someone who went through abuse for several year, I can't write a story about it. I hope I don't lose any readers from this… but I hope to make this story a very realistic one and something most people can relate to. 


	2. An Unexpected Helping Hand

__

A/N: Thanks to the people who reviewed my story. You guys are awesome! Alright, well this chapter introduces a certain dark-haired boy, briefly and is sort of important because it introduces more of the drama. Hope you guys like it! PLEASE review!

CHAPTER TWO:  
  
The light gleamed through as Haley took a long stretch while yawning. She could hear the birds chirping, louder than usual causing her to take a glance out the window. Finally realizing that she had fallen asleep in the attic instead of her room, the young adult began to scramble. She could hear her alarm going off in her room as she ran down the stairs of the highest level of the house. She had a feeling it had been buzzing for several minutes. Groaning as she looked at the time, and realizing she was going to be late for school, she began to hustle. She threw her hair into a fast ponytail and changed into a new set of clothes, since she had slept in her previous set.   
  
"Momm," she called out, as her feet moved in double time down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen. "Mom, I'm late..." Haley relaxed when she saw that her mother had already made a delicious breakfast for the family. Sighing a gasp of relief, she sat at the table for four and picked up the fork placed by her plate.   
  
"Blueberry Pancakes," her mother gleamed, while sitting down. "Your favourite."  
  
"Actually, they're John's favourite," Haley replied, while taking a bite, "but you won't hear any complaints coming from me." As she swallowed the food, she realized time still wasn't on her side, and began to eat her food faster.   
  
"Speaking of..." Haley rolled her eyes, knowing what her Mom was going to say. Wanting to get herself out of the conversation, she ate faster at a quick pace. "Haley, you can't keep doing this. It's been months since he's joined this family. You have to accept him."   
  
"Whatever," Haley brushed the topic off easily, before clearing her plate with one last chomp. "Oh! I meant to ask you; I was upstairs last night, and I noticed one Dad's boxes was missing. I think it's the baseball card one. Did you move it again?" It wasn't a horrible accusation; her mother always thought that the attic was just a mess of boxes and often moved some to more discreet locations in the house.   
  
"They were sold a couple days ago," another voice added into the conversation, and Haley didn't even have to look up from her meal to know to whom it belonged to.  
  
"What do you mean?" Haley squinted her eyes, not liking where this was going. "You didn't do what I think you did, did you?" Haley's mother was about to speak, but was stopped as the words formed in her mouth.  
  
"Haley, we're short on money. Those cards were worth thousands! He had Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson and others that the sales clerk said would make this family much more wealthy. Some were even signed!"  
  
"I know what's in that box, John." She picked up her plate, placing it in the sink to wash later on. She poured a bit of water on it first, so that the syrup wouldn't stick.  
  
"We needed the money! This isn't just helping me, which I'm sure is what you're thinking," John spoke, as his voice began to rise to reach Haley's. Mrs. James sulked down in her chair, witnessing her two most loved ones fighting.   
  
"How could you sell something that is so important to Dad? Baseball is his life; those cards mean everything and more to him." Haley turned to walk out of the room, frustrated with her step-dad.   
  
"Was, Haley. Baseball was his life. And they meant everything to him. Past tense dear," Mrs James added in quietly, knowing that it was still a touchy subject to her daughter.   
  
Haley spun around on her heels, to face her mother and replied a simple, "What?"  
  
"It's been a year. It's time to move on," she spoke kindly, looking up to her new husband for support. He nodded and placed an arm around her shoulder. "He's dead, Haley. You have to face it."   
  
This wasn't happening. Haley backed up, not realizing that the wall blocked her exit. Knowing she couldn't just turn around and run without having the last word Haley glared at them both and whispered a comment. "You know, it's funny you should say that mom. John said the same thing last night. You guys deserve each other." She didn't need to shout her words, or even follow with her usual temper-tantrum stomps out of the room. The hushed remark was enough to cause her mom to burst into tears, and to leave John not knowing what to do but comfort his wife.   


* * *

  
  
"I'm surrounded by liars, everywhere I turn. I'm surrounded by impostors, everywhere I turn. I'm surrounded by identity crisis everywhere I turn. Am I the only one who noticed? How can I be the only one who's learned?"   
  
Nathan's radio blared to the tune of 'I don't wanna be' by Gavin Degraw, with Nathan occasionally singing along. After the band had performed for the teens at Karen's Café, Nathan had quickly bought the CD and had become a huge fan ever since. He continued humming the chorus, as he drove to school in the car his Dad had generously given to him. Of course, it had been a bribe, but it was a good set of wheels, and he took it never the less. Their divorce hadn't become much better over the months although some understandments were made. Nathan was no longer a rope being tugged back and forth from one parent to another. He made his decision to move out, and had been happy with it. Of course, money had been a major issue, but both parents pitched it, understanding he had to do this to grow.   
  
Looking outside to see where he was, and focusing on the road, Nathan began to listen to the birds instead of the full-volume song. He turned it all the way down, enjoying the sound of the flying creatures chirping. He wasn't quite sure which type of bird it was; maybe he'd ask Haley.   
  
He continued to look out the driver seat window, as he came to a halt at the red light. For such an early time of day, a lot of things and people were up and about. There was a little boy, much like a younger him, hiking to school with his backpack hanging off his right shoulder. A blind man walking confidently with his dog leading the way. A squirrel chomping on its acorn. Haley walking fast, with tears streaming down her cheeks. Twin toddlers tugging at their pregnant mother's hands to cross the street.   
  
Wait a sec. Haley, crying?   
  
"Beeeeeeeeep" Nathan jumped up, noticing that the light in front of him had turned to the shade of green, and the cranky morning drivers behind him were honking. He pressed on the gas, probably going faster than her should have and crossed the intersection.   
  
As he looked back, he realized that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Haley was walking to school, now wiping her tears from her eyes. Feeling his heart cringe for her, he pulled over to the side of the road. He was now several blocks away from Haley, which was ideal. Haley would be able to gain some composure before he'd offer a ride. She never really was one to allow someone to see her cry, which was most likely why she had saved her tear-shed for her lonely walk to school.   
  
"Nathan?" Haley's voice called out, as she made one final sniffle. She managed to get all the crying she wanted to get out before she had reached his familiar set of wheels.   
  
"Hey, babe." He grinned as he leaned over, unlocking the passenger door. "Want a ride?" Haley smiled graciously, before opening to door to allow herself to hop in. Nathan knew she had been crying. It was obvious from the red stains down her cheeks, but he hadn't immediately asked what was wrong, or what had brought upon her sadness. She was glad of that.   
  
"Thanks," she said as she leaned on the window, facing away from Nathan. "For the ride, Of course."   
  
Nathan looked at her from the corner of his eyes, and took his right hand off the wheel, leaning over to give her a comforting nudge/rub on shoulder. She smiled in return, and turned the volume back up to the Gavin Degraw CD that Nathan had been listening to previously.   
  
"I heard you coming almost a mile away," she grinned, before sticking out her tongue to reassure him that she was fine. "You really got to work on that voice of yours." He laughed and turned his attention back to the road.  
  
She could see the worry in Nathan's eyes, and although she was grateful he wasn't prying her for answers, like Lucas would have, it bothered her more knowing he had the words on the tip of his tongue. "Ahh this is my favourite song!" She giggled slightly as she began singing the lyrics to the tenth song on the disc.   
  
Nathan gave a sly smirk, loving the tone of her voice as she sung. You never would have guessed that she was just crying moments before, by the exact pitch and melodic notes that she vocalized. She actually looked good, although occasionally she would look into the driver's mirror to make sure it wasn't too obvious she had been crying. She was natural, and he loved that about her. Peyton was gorgeous, and he could give Brooke that title as well, but to him Haley was beautiful. Beautiful, in his dictionary was much higher on the list than gorgeous. Gorgeous simply refers to ones beauty, but beautiful describes everything about said person and is therefore a much more intense word.   
  
To be completely honest with himself, he had never gotten over Haley. She was so caring towards him, and believed him no matter what he said or did and no matter how many times he screwed up. It was true love, or at least what he had thought.   
  
"Nate." A voice pulled him out of his thoughts, as he began to recognize the area around him. He was at school. "We're here," Haley informed him, making sure he still was in this Galaxy. "You alright?"  
  
Nathan turned the keys, and took one final glance at Haley. He couldn't be mad at her, whether she had broken his heart or not. "Yea, I'm great. Let's head to class."  
  
The two walked together to their first class, which they coincidentally both had, talking about the History test that would be awaiting them that period. Life seemed back to normal. But life can always be deceiving.


	3. Things aren't always as they seem

A/N: Sorry it took so long to post this chapter. Actually, I'm already done chapter 11 – but I haven't been posting much at fanfiction.net, mostly because it's more of a hassle. Anyway, please tell me what you think =)  
  
CHAPTER THREE:  
  
Mrs. James rested her head on her palms, rubbing her eyes gently to remove the tears remaining on her face. She exhaled slowly, before reaching back down to her fork to continue eating.  
  
"Since when did parenting become so hard?" she questioned, while shaking her head. Haley had always been an easy daughter to deal with. She had friends, a great personality, and always received top marks in her class. It had only been until lately that her image of the perfect child vanished into thin air only to be replaced with a disrespectful, foul-mouth. As much as she loved her daughter, she had no clue what to do to fix the problem that was created with the death of her pervious husband. Going to a psychiatrist had entered her mind before, but quickly vanished as she realized that it would just bring up more memories and past experiences for her to relive. "At least you have some practice at it," John replied, pulling Mrs. James back into reality. "I've never been around children in my life, never mind fathered one."  
  
Haley's mother looked up respectfully to her new husband, and motioned him to sit down. He had really tried and sure, he made many mistakes along the way, but he was learning from them. He wanted the best for Haley, although he had funny ways of showing it.  
  
"Oh! Haley called me dad last night," he commented, taking his first pancake from the mound of them on the center plate.  
  
Her eyes looked up, with excitement sparkling within them. "Oh, honey that's great. You've made progress!"  
  
He shook his head, taking another bite. "It's not as good as you think, Sue (A/N: from now on, Haley's mom will be referred to as Sue or Susan). It was during one of our classic 'you will never replace my father fights'."  
  
Susan put one hand to her face, angered at their relationship. She hadn't ever expected that the two would have a father-daughter bond, but she at least hoped that the man she loved so much would at least be able to get along with her only daughter. It wasn't like John didn't try enough. It just seemed with each passing day, he dug himself into a deeper hole.  
  
"Why did you do it?" she quickly said, speaking as a thought appeared in her mind. He gave her an odd glance, as he pulled another pancake off the stack to signal her to continue with her idea. "You didn't sell those cards, I did. Things with you and Haley are worse off as it is. Why did you take the blame knowing it would just get Haley more bitter towards you."  
  
He shrugged, before looking down onto his plate. "A step parent is always supposed to be evil. She thinks I'm replacing her dad. I can't let her respect for her mom vanish as well." She smiled gratefully at him, and placed her hand on top of his free one. "Plus, I know how hard it is to have all these memories of your husband around the house. I'm just not sure Haley would understand as much."  
  
"I love you." He mimicked her whispered comment as they shared a sweet kiss. "We'll get through this together. All we need is time."  
  
Swish Swash Swish Swash  
  
The green cloth moved back and forth, acting like a sponge to pick up the grime the previous customer had left behind. Looking around quickly, she made sure that no customers were looking as she made a swift shot to the counter, to get rid of the rag. She was glad too; its smell was beginning to make her feel nauseous.  
  
Haley readjusted her forest green apron, before picking up the two plates on the deserted table. She managed to balance those, while holding two half- filled coffee mugs, as well as the scattered cutlery. Proud of herself, she strode back to behind the counter.  
  
Just then a voice began calling out for her. "Hey! Lady, I'm waiting for my order still!" Realizing that she was the only one on duty immediately after school, Haley groaned. She called out to tell the man to hold on for a moment, politely of course, but he refused to give in. "I ordered half an hour ago. I don't think it takes that long to get a damn cup of coffee!" He grumbled on, throwing his paper down on the table in front of him. Although Haley was sure his half-hour wait was really five minutes in reality, she decided it would be wise to just serve him.  
  
Turning around swiftly, and completely forgetting that she was holding several objects, all chaos broke loose. In slow motion, the two plates she had been balancing so elegantly on her right forearm plummeted to the floor with a load crash. Reacting fact, and trying to prevent the cutlery from falling, as well, Haley became oblivious to the fact that coffee mugs-that still held a rather warm substance-remained in her hands. She flipped them towards her in a mad attempt to clean up the mess, only to create bigger one on the floor and on herself. She cried out in pain, and frustration as she tried to get the coffee off of her.  
  
"My coffee, miss?" the rude customer added, as he waved his newspaper around. She glared at him, before bending to her knees to remove the glass bits from the floor.  
  
Lucas, who had witnessed the majority of the spectacle from the windows of the café, rushed in to help her.  
  
"You okay?" he asked, as he tried his best to avoid the shattered bits of ceramic. She nodded frantically; embarrassed by the scene she created.  
  
Hearing the angry customer bellowing again from the far-left corner, Lucas growled and picked up the pot of coffee from the end of the counter. He calmly walked over to the middle-aged man. However, he abruptly changed his mood when he fiercely poured the hot substance into the male's cup. Coffee splashed everywhere, even landing onto the suit of the rude businessman.  
  
"Hey! That's hot!" He jumped up from his seat, angered.  
  
"Well now you know how she feels," Lucas growled, sort of enjoying playing the role of the protective older brother. "Now here's your coffee, to go!" Without another word, he was gone, and the rest of the customers looked at the owner's son with astonishment. The few who had been watching the whole time clapped, and eventually the rest joined in.  
  
Haley laughed, while gleaming her infamous smile. She was still cleaning up the mess, but had the common sense to remove her apron. After letting his male ego grow just a tad, Lucas bowed comically and walked over to help his best friend.  
  
She was frantically picking up the pieces, knowing that there were other customers waiting for her assistance. Even with Lucas's help, it took another ten minutes or so before the shattered pieces were thrown in the trash. Finally at 5:00, Haley's shift was over.  
  
"You sure you alright?" he asked her again, as they both leaned against the counter of the café. Haley pulled out a donut, and held it up to ask Lucas if he wanted one. He nodded in response, and she grabbed the glazed one for him. "Hales?"  
  
"Oh. Yea, I'm fine. Just having a clumsy day. Did I tell you I fell again today?" Lucas leaned on his elbow while raising an eyebrow. She was going to start rambling; he just knew it. "I wasn't watching where I was going, and then out of nowhere a curb appeared. To say the least, it wasn't pretty. Got this." She pointed to a band-aid covered cut on her elbow. Lucas chuckled and placed his fingers to his mouth. Slowly moving them down, he placed them onto her elbow.  
  
"All better." He stared at her for a moment, before Haley's comment broke it.  
  
"It's times like this that I wonder if we've been watching too many Dawson Creek re-runs," she informed him, trying to stay as serious as she could. "Dawson." She drew out the name, making it sound as lovey-dovey as possible.  
  
He shook his head and laughed, while taking a bite into his sugar delight. "Anyway, Joey, how was your day?" She looked at him, attentively as if she was going to say something important, but instead bit her lip. He didn't want to hear her complain.  
  
"Well, I think I did good on Mr. Peterson's history test. But I have to tell you, you're one lucky guy to not have that dude for a teacher. He could most likely win the biggest ass award. "  
  
"Hey! What happened to Perfect James and her respect for teachers." Haley laughed, while playfully slapping him on the chest.  
  
"That's Miss. Perfect James to you!" Lucas chuckled before throwing his and Haley's napkins into the trash. By now they were both done their 'dinners' and silently decided to head up to the roof.  
  
"So, when do you have to head home?" he asked, tentatively. Haley looked at her watch and groaned.  
  
"I was supposed to be there 10 minutes ago. Apparently I'm grounded," replied Haley, while she rolled her eyes. Lucas scratched his brow. He knew it was last night that got her in trouble, and regretted causing more family strife than what was already there. "Don't worry about it. He'd find a reason to be a jerk either way." Although she was trying to help, her words of wisdom just seemed to make things worse.  
  
He never really understood why she hated John so much. He was a lawyer, and although he wasn't extremely successful, he supported the family fairly well. He seemed like a nice guy and wanted the best for Haley. If anything, he made Lucas's job as her protector a bit easier. Or at least he thought it would be. Instead she put up walls and made every conversation between the new family member and her worse than it should have been. Lucas didn't blame Haley completely, because John was being just as stubborn as she was. Both Mrs. James, and the new Mr. James should have understood that it was too quick to get married. At least, that was his opinion. Haley was over her dad's death and all, but they could have given her more time to adjust to her new lifestyle.  
  
"Luke?" He looked up, snapping back to reality. "Glad to have you back, man. Where'd you drift off to?"  
  
"Oh, I was just thinking about basketball season starting up again," he lied through his teeth. He hated doing it, but sometimes talking about things didn't fix them. To be completely honest, he hadn't spoken about his thoughts of Haley's relationship with her step-dad. She seemed so hurt from it, and as her protector, he couldn't bare to bring up such a hurtful topic.  
  
"Oh. Well, I guess I should head home. Want to give me a ride?" Lucas smiled, nodding in response, as he placed his arm around Haley's torso to walk her down the stairs.  
  
They caught up a bit on the short ride home. Lucas promised he'd call Haley later to make sure everything was okay, and that he didn't get her in trouble twice in a two day span. Haley gave him a quick hug, while he kissed her forehead. Then, she was off to complete more history homework that was assigned after the mini-exam. Haley guessed that would take up at least 3 hours of her night.  
  
"Damn Peterson," she growled to herself, before falling onto her bed. Her day had been long, and she had to use her strong will-power to prevent herself from falling asleep. Grabbing her side bag, she turned her room light off and walked down the hallway. Maybe the attic would cheer up her boring day. 


End file.
